Price rises mean many of the country’s smaller venues, such as Band on the Wall in Manchester, risk redundancies and downscaled operations in the coming months
With a 200-year history, Band on the Wall in Manchester is one of north-west England’s best-loved music venues. Over the years, it has hosted jazz greats, pivotal early appearances by Buzzcocks, Joy Division and the Fall, and more recently the likes of James Blake and Self Esteem. However, like most of the nation’s venues, it is now reeling from the cost of living crisis as bills go through the roof.
“We’re budgeting all the time, but it’s becoming impossible because with inflation in double figures you don’t know how much anything is going to be in four or 10 weeks’ time,” explains CEO Gavin Sharp. “Say one supplier raises prices by 6% or 8% – that’s not an isolated increase, it’s the same with every single supplier. And our staff costs – our single biggest expenditure – are being impacted because we’ve had to put up the hourly rate so they can pay their bills. It becomes a spiral.”
